


It Is Only When You Fall

by brightephemera



Series: Leif Surana [10]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Dragon Age: Inquisition Quest - Here Lies the Abyss, Gen, Martyrdom, Nightmare Demon, The Fade, canon compliant character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:42:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27409798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightephemera/pseuds/brightephemera
Summary: There were two Heroes of Ferelden. Now, in a distant land, one faces a battle that threatens to destroy his allies’ Inquisition, the only hope for the world.The Lessons They Paid For is the climax of Leif’s early life. Here comes the crux of her later career. It is consistent with Inquisition’s plot.
Relationships: Loghain Mac Tir & Warden
Series: Leif Surana [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954573
Kudos: 1





	It Is Only When You Fall

_Leif,_

_I wish you could have seen this._

A bass voice rich with amusement echoed through the greenish maze of the Fade. “Loghain Mac Tir, the traitor. At your peak you nearly ran your beloved country into the ground. You destroy everything you touch. Were you ever any more than the voice she borrowed when she wanted a monster’s perspective?”

Enough blathering. It was nothing Loghain hadn’t thought himself. “I trust her judgment over yours, demon.”

_I never believed the Fade could be so disconcerting. I find myself relying on your testimony for the rules, though I surely do not pass over the same ground._

Loghain had traveled a long way with the Inquisitor and her friends, representing the Wardens uncorrupted. He had fought alongside the Inquisitor’s party, and had been trapped with them in the dream realm, the Fade. The only priority was getting back out in time to meet the real battle. The Inquisitor’s special abilities were the only realistic path to victory. It had helped that he had come to like the Inquisition’s misplaced generation of fighters.

They rounded a corner. The landscape of the Fade stretched out, flat and covered in fetid mist. To one side loomed a bloated spiderlike thing, the demon that had been taunting them for the last hour. There was also a stairway to a Fade rift, a long run away. Perhaps it was their only way home.

“Stay together,” said graceful Inquisitor Isten, and ran. Loghain and the others followed.

The nightmare demon swung its misshapen head toward the party. The mortals raced toward the Fade tear that would bring them back to the world, back to the corrupted Wardens, back to the great task. But they were a long way away. The nightmare demon shook its head. The nightmare demon also stretched back past the haze of view in the Fade. Far, far beyond its distended body, deep in that haze, the Black City floated. Mortals were not meant to see that.

_This thing of fear and legs would have added to your trophy case. I estimate we would have needed an expedition of eight or more of strong nerve to meaningfully challenge it._

The demon’s long legs started moving.

“Uh, guys?” said Varric. The colorful dwarf made good use of his short legs, keeping up with Hawke, the Inquisitor, and the Inquisitor’s other two friends.

“I see it,” said Hawke. “You had better go ahead.”

“Without you? Not likely.”

_There was no choice. Leif, I cannot shape the Fade. I had no tactical coup, no Warden reinforcements, no Ritual. I evaluated the situation and I did what I judged appropriate._

Loghain sized up the oncoming horror. That demon could kill all of them, easily. The only hope of survival for the group was for someone to slow it down.

He had done enough to deserve death and probably more; Leif had been shooing his past crimes to keep them from coming home to roost for a long time now. This wasn’t a bad way to go. He did believe the Inquisitor was necessary to the world.

“Go on,” he yelled, raising his shield. “Go. I will delay.”

Most of them ran. Isten stayed, her dark eyes brimming with a compassion he did not need. “General…”

“Your task is before you, Inquisitor. I outran mine a long time ago. Give my regards to the Warden-Commander. Tell her that the insubordination was necessary, just this once.” Tell her tell her tell her…but she would understand. She might court-martial him in his absence, but in the end, she would understand.

Isten stepped away.

The demon took a step closer. “You realize that the child who made her name by humiliating you will come for you. I will eat her heart first. That’s a feature she never let you near.”

Leif. After ten years linked as commander and strategist, he didn’t need to feel near. It was enough that they had faced the entire world shoulder to shoulder. “If she comes it’ll be with an army at her back. You might not enjoy her features so much then.”

“She is not here now. Did you help…oh. Your old King? His _beloved_ wife? Your Commander? Is there anyone you haven’t betrayed to get here? You stand alone, just like you’ve earned.”

Deserving aloneness was not a single quip. It was a way of life to be navigated daily, barring interfering commanders. He didn’t fear that, nor the other jabs. “If Maric, Rowan, and Leif were here now, you’d be down four legs. Keep talking.”

Another step. The legs would be in range well before the belly. Loghain would have to hew it down like a tree. Well, he had vanquished an archdemon; next to that this was merely distastefully squishy. The others were running now, still some ways away from escape. He stood in the way. Shield up, sword poised to strike.

_My life is best used here. In death, sacrifice. Leif, Warden-Survivor, my student, my commander and my friend…_

It wasn’t a charge. It was the striding response to a long, long-awaited invitation.

_…forgive me._


End file.
